For the main activity description, use an essay format, NOT bullet points. Please limit your description for each activity to 500 words. We recommend you type up and edit your essays in a separate word processing program and then copy and paste into the description field when you are satisfied that it is complete
Initiative
My role as the president of the Newcomers Club in my school has taught me valuable skills and lasting lessons about leadership.
My passion to be the voice of others had started due to the rejection of voting rights for ESL students in the student council election in my junior school. As one of the victims, I was outraged by the school's decision to neglect the voices of this mistreated group and also disappointed to see many of my classmates afraid of taking actions due to their foreign accents and shyness. Thus, I was determined to make a change; I believed that by uniting the voices of all ELL students, we could together change the way the school and other students viewed us. However, my ambition had to be postponed because my family moved to Toronto. I continued to accomplish my ambition in the new school by running for the president of the Newcomers Club.
The role has helped me improve on my public speaking and teamwork skills. I became actively involved in the community and arranged group volunteer opportunities for the club members with a plethora of volunteer coordinators. I recruited over 20 newcomers and ESL students to join the club. Under my leadership, the club started a tradition of hosting annual ELL Appreciation Week events during the Ontario's ELL week. One such event involved inviting my school's ELL population to a free lunch to promote a sense of community. To achieve this, I proposed the event and asked for funding from my principal and also negotiated with food vendors on discounts. I utilized my marketing experience from my involvement in other clubs to successfully advertise these events and the meaning of the club, which is to facilitate appreciation of the various cultures the ESL students hail from.
By hosting events to celebrate Asian Heritage month, not only did ESL students with an Asian background feel proud of their own cultures, many Asian Canadian students who had not visited their home countries were able to recognize the significance of their roots. Upon the success of the Appreciation Week and many other events, the club won its recognition within the school from both the students and the teaching faculty.
However, the biggest challenge I faced was to efficiently use the power of my club members. As president, I felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility and given the lack of a clear work division within the club, I did most of the work myself in my first year. As a result, I was overexerting myself and felt I was the only voice in the club. Thus, in the second year, I took a different approach: I created different committees and distributed work amongst the members while my main role was to oversee and resolve conflicts. Although many of the members were scared to take the lead at first, I encouraged and guided them. The result was tremendous: my workload in the club decreased and many members grew more passionate about the club.
My two years of experience as the leader of this group of ESL activists rewarded me with significant life lessons and skills that will allow me to take on other leadership roles during my time at Western University.
I am 42 words over. Please help me reduce some redundant words. Please critical!!!! and tell me if this experience shows my leadership ability
Dian, to address your doubt on whether to write the name of the institution or not,
I say you do, reason being, this will trigger the idea of your eagerness to be part
of the institution and showing a positive outlook in your application and you as an
applicant.
Dian, the edited version of the essay is also better from what you started, you were
able to incorporate the corrections that were suggested and in the process, you were
able to achieve the restricted word limit for your essay, that's a very good job.
I have seen some of your other essays here on EF and I must say, you have a very good
approach in accepting and acknowledging criticisms from the editors and contributors here
here on EF and we appreciate that so much, makes us feel that our help is valued.
I hope to see more of your writing pieces here on EF, best of luck to you.
